Richard Adler, Broadway Composer And Lyricist, Dies

Celebrated composer and lyricist Richard Adler has died at the age of 90.

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Originally published on June 22, 2012 6:11 pm

One half of a great American songwriting team has died. Richard Adler died in Southampton, N.Y, yesterday at the age of 90. Adler and his songwriting partner, Jerry Ross, were composers and lyricists who got their start with a No. 1 hit in 1953, "Rags to Riches," sung by Tony Bennett.

From a single that sold over a million copies, Adler and Ross went on to write one of Broadway's best-loved musicals. Adler told WHYY's Fresh Air in 1990 that when they were working on The Pajama Game, he got the idea for one of its biggest songs in an unorthodox way.

"I went to the bathroom one day, and when I got in there I decided, 'I'm not leaving till I've written a song,' " he said. "Then all of a sudden the radiator started clanging and hissing, and I got the idea for steam heat."

The two next took on a musical about baseball, a sport Adler did not even enjoy. The result? Damn Yankees. Just a few months after it opened in 1955, Jerry Ross died unexpectedly. He was only 29.

Adler says he was devastated. But he rallied, wrote commercial jingles, and in 1962 was hired to plan the most famous presidential birthday party ever. President John F. Kennedy told Adler that hiring Marilyn Monroe was a great idea.